


The Way Normal People Meet

by Rennington



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 19:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16102331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rennington/pseuds/Rennington
Summary: "The circumstances under which we met are completely insane. I wish we'd met the way normal people meet, like at a philosophy conference, or after one of my philosophy lectures, or you came knocking on my office door asking for help with philosophy.""Is that how you think people meet?"





	The Way Normal People Meet

**Author's Note:**

> I always loved that in their new life, they do meet when she knocks on his office door with a question about philosophy, so I had to write a little thing. A oneshot for now but I might expand it.

He was in his office, revising the third subsection of the fourth chapter of the second volume of his current manuscript, when there was a knock on the door. Before if he could decide how to respond, the door opened.

“I’m sorry, office hours are on Tuesday”

“I’m not a student - are you Chidi Ana...kendrick?” the young woman, who had rushed in with a suitcase in her hand asked, excitedly.

“Anagonye, yes,” he replied.

“From the long nerdy video about the little voice that tells you to be good?”

“From the Keswick foundation lecture series on the practical applications of ethical theory, yes.”

“Great. Hi, My name is Eleanor Shellstrop. Can we talk?”

He wanted to say no, that this wasn’t a good time. He really needed to get back to contrasting the values of Aristotelian virtue ethics with the simplicity of a more universal set of codes and standards, and he was running out of time to decide what he wanted to get for Uzo before the year ran out on sending him a wedding present. As best man, he owed his friend a significant gift but also didn’t want to appear extravagant or showy in his gift-giving. He really should say yes, invite her to sit and talk. He was worried that it would be a breach of his responsibilities, both moral and professional, to turn someone away when they had a question.

Before he could make up his mind one way or the other, she took another step towards his desk and started talking again.

“What I don’t understand, and I was hoping you might help me with, since you seem smart and whatever, is why I should do the ‘good thing,’” this she emphasized with air quotes “when no one ever does anything good for me. I mean you talk about what we owe to one another, but if all I ever get is a whole pile of horseshit, why do I owe anyone anything better?”

“I’m sorry?” he was overwhelmed. Over the course of this short speech, she had sat down in one of the two chairs opposite him at his desk and leaned forward expectantly.

“Like, I get that we _should_ be try to be the best we can, but I think I need some help understanding what makes it worth it? Wouldn’t it just be easier to, well, do the easy thing?”

Her questions were, well, not what he was used to. He was used to complex questions from students, asking about the differences between two philosophers or the contextual definition of terms. He spent his days trying to decide how much to weigh the environmental impact of one product against the unknown human cost of its competitor. He had written dissertations on what it meant to be a good person, given lectures on how to minimize one’s negative impact, taught classes on utilitarianism and contractualism and when pragmatism might be outweighed by duty. He had not given much thought to the question of _if_ it was good to be good. Sure, he had studied egoism, which supported the sort of selfish behaviors Eleanor was likely referencing - optimizing action to benefit the self. But even then, it held that to benefit the self was inherently good, not that good and bad should be ignored entirely.

He answered with the only thing he could come up with on the spot “Being good, is good.”

“Being good is good” she repeated. “Seriously dude? I fly here from Arizona for the stunning insight that ‘being good is good’? Well thanks, with that stunning insight I guess I’ll hop back on another 20 hour flight.”

“Well, what were you hoping for? If you can’t see that everyone should try to be a good person, I’m not sure how much I can help you.”

“I do _know_ that they should,” she said, suddenly defensive. “I was just hoping, well, you seemed to really know what you were talking about. And I thought, maybe, you could help me figure out how to do better. I’ve tried, on my own, to do the right thing. But it’s too hard. Could you...maybe, teach me?”

“I -” he stopped. The idea intrigued yet worried him. It would be an interesting project, using his theoretical knowledge to help someone improve themselves in practice, and there was a clear moral incentive to help someone else be a force for good in the world. At the same time, however, he was bound by duty and social bond to give his energy first to his students, colleagues, and friends. Strangers from Arizona - boy, Arizona, there’s a whole kettle of fish, the energy dedicated to air conditioning alone - weren’t really his focus.

He looked at her across the table. She looked hopeful, and eager to learn. It was this eagerness that got to him. So many of his students were disengaged, taking his course for a grade that would get them through a first year requirement or a earn them a place at a law school. It was rare to have someone, even someone who was so far from the mark, who was truly passionate about what he did. Maybe this would be worth it. Maybe he would even learn something from the process.

“Ok, I’ll help you.”


End file.
